Sword and Beloved: Spoiler-Free Mini Review
- Aug 11
- 3 min read
Title: | Sword and Beloved (2025) (Fox Spirit Matchmaker #3) |
Platform: | iQIYI |
MDL Rating: | |
Genre: | Xianxia (High Fantasy), Romance (I dispute this) |
Episode Count: | 36 |
Parental Guidance Rating: | PG: Brief torture, blood spitting, fighting, usual Xianxia stuff |
Staring: | Cheng Yi (Vendetta of An) Li Yi Tong (A Dream Within A Dream) Guo Jun Chen (Bloom Life) He Rui Xian (Feud) |
RBTS Rating: | 1.7/5 Stars (Ugh, Bella Naur. An unsatisfying conclusion to the most heinous triology in existence. )  |
Synopsis:
Wangquan Fu Gui is the son of Wangquan Hong Ye and Dongfang Huai Zhu, and the most powerful member of the Wangquan family. Trained as a Daoist soldier, Fu Gui lived a life without freedom. Qing Tong, initially a spy planted by Poison Lady to gather intelligence on the Wangquan family, regains her freedom with Fu Gui’s help. As their bond deepens, Fu Gui's longing for liberty and vision of a peaceful world are reignited. @MDL
Stay Tuned: Full Review Still to Come!
Spoiler-Free Mini Review:
Get ready to die of frustration. Sword and Beloved is the third and final punishment, whoops I meant installment in the Fox Spirit Matchmaker trilogy, taking place a couple decades after the events of Love in Pavilion, and occurring consecutively with Red Moon Pact. Which doesn’t make sense, but ok. Unlike Love in Pavilion and Red Moon Pact, I don't think this can be watched as a standalone, and if you're going to watch it, Love in Pavillion is a mandatory precurser. Don't watch Red Moon Pact. You don't need to. And honestly, don't watch this.
Sword and Beloved follows a similar pattern to the previous two installments, diving into themes of tragic love and duty versus self determination, but does branch out a bit more. The drama should really have just been called "Sword", because where on earth was the beloved? It was not in the room with us! The main couple wasn't even a couple—nary a smooch or even “I like you”, and the ML was the world's worst boyfriend (if that’s what he even was). May that kind of love pass me right on by! The acutely petite ML had no personality which surprised me because Cheng Yi (ML) has successfully played a stoic character before in Love and Redemption and brought dimension there, so again, what happened here? Did everyone see Red Moon Pact to prepare and lose a little bit of their soul?
The FL is like this for FAR too long. What a jumpscare.
There were so many logic holes, unnecessary deaths, and power inconsistencies. The story was gibberish and the inability to just kill the villains was nonsensical. *dies of frustration* Also, this drama must have been a competition to see who is the worst father in Xianxia. Overall, it was frustrating, boring, and don’t waste your time. Another alternate title should have been The Itsy Bitsy Spider because what was that CGI? My final ranking of the series is as follows:
1. Love in Pavillion which sits barley above ground
2. Sword and Beloved which lies just under the top soil, not worthy of being seen but not as bad as...
3. Red Moon Pact which sits firmly in hell where it should stay ever after.
I only finished the drama because I had already suffered through the worst C-drama of all time to get here and I thought somehow there would be a light at the end of the tunnel, but it turns out it was a black whole.
Story= 2 (UGGSDSDLJSD), Acting= 2 (not good), Production Quality=4 (CGI was good (minus the parts where the FL is a spider (!)) and the music score was pretty at moments, but too many people suffered from unfortunate bangs. Make Bangs Reasonable Again), Ending=1 (WTF Jill), Enjoyability= 2
Trailer:
Director: Du Lin (Love You Seven Times)
Screenwriter: Jian An (Love in the Desert)
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